Methylol transfer agents, such as the antibacterial and anti-toxin drug taurolidine and the related product taurultam, have been shown to exert a modifying effect on the toxicity of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) which is used, inter alia, in the treatment of tumors. Furthermore, the action of methylol transfer agents has been shown to be selective in that the growth of normal cell-lines was not significantly inhibited.
Taurolidine acts by transferring three methylol groups at the site of action, taurultam being an intermediate metabolite which itself transfers a single methylol group with liberation of the very well tolerated compound taurinamide. Thus, the two compounds act by essentially the same mechanism. It should be noted that methylol transfer is to be contrasted with methyl transfer which is characteristic of many highly toxic anti-tumor drugs. Taurolidine and taurultam have low toxicity and are not cytotoxic against normal cells.
Programmed cell death is an evolutionary conserved biological principle in the regulation of cell numbers. Sensitive cells contain death receptors which are activated when the appropriate ligands are secreted from neighboring cells. A prominent system in programmed cell death is Fas-ligand mediated apoptosis. Fas, also known as CD 95/APO-l, is a cell surface receptor and a member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily which mediates apoptosis in sensitive cells upon oligomerization by the Fas-ligand (FasL).